jason_iowa
New member
My cousin got a flyer from a wholesaler saying ammo costs would be going up 20-25% due to component costs. Is this a sales tactic or reality?
ammo costs
- Thread starter jason_iowa
- Start date
They have been talking about ammo prices going up for the past 6 months, I suspect there is an element of truth to it...
Raw material prices, manufacturing costs, transportation costs have all gone up... the retail price will soon follow.
One other thing, although rather speculative... I believe as we go into the next election cycle there will be higher demand on firearms and ammunition much like the knee-jerk reaction to the last election.
Raw material prices, manufacturing costs, transportation costs have all gone up... the retail price will soon follow.
One other thing, although rather speculative... I believe as we go into the next election cycle there will be higher demand on firearms and ammunition much like the knee-jerk reaction to the last election.
Scrap copper and other metals have actually decreased in price in the past few weeks. The ammo companies and distributors will look to mark anything up that they can. If prices were really to jump that much, why would they tell us? If they hold or even increase their inventory levels before the price increase, they will make more money. Not saying ammo prices won't go up, but it also may be that a distributor or supplier has inventory that they need to move for cash flow or other reasons.
If its a sales tactic today, its reality tommorrow
Face a few simple facts, our economy is not doing well. That means, among other things, low confidence in our dollar, which means everything costs more and more.
Some products are very rapidly affected, others less so. Raw materials are in demand in other parts of the world, particularly asia these days. Transportation costs are high, and unstable.
Ammo costs, after spoiling us for nearly a couple of decades by remaining relatively stable, are now in the same leaky boat as nearly all our other goods.
Ammo is double (or about) what it was 20 years ago. Many other products we use daily or frequently are triple (or MORE) than they were then.
My wages are more, but not that much more. Ammo costs are going to go up. How much, when, and how often are the questions that are important.
Face a few simple facts, our economy is not doing well. That means, among other things, low confidence in our dollar, which means everything costs more and more.
Some products are very rapidly affected, others less so. Raw materials are in demand in other parts of the world, particularly asia these days. Transportation costs are high, and unstable.
Ammo costs, after spoiling us for nearly a couple of decades by remaining relatively stable, are now in the same leaky boat as nearly all our other goods.
Ammo is double (or about) what it was 20 years ago. Many other products we use daily or frequently are triple (or MORE) than they were then.
My wages are more, but not that much more. Ammo costs are going to go up. How much, when, and how often are the questions that are important.
In all honesty, materials cost related to the metals is a load of sheep dip. They will use the excuse as much as possible. In reality, metal costs alone are a very tiny fraction of the final price.
Energy costs, IMO, provide a bigger percentage of making ammunition than metals do. Restructuring pricing with premium, ultra premium, generic, and name brand rounds, as well as selling thousands of rounds of private label (not so much now) have allowed companies to tweak prices year after year, but there comes a time that across the board revenues are too low, and then, MSRP is adjusted in as many places as it can be, and then, invoice prices, contract prices, etc, are all adjusted as possible.
I'm nowhere near smart enough to even begin to comprehend the incredibly complex formulas and processes that federal would use, but, for example, they must sell a million boxes or so of their basic "lighting" brand .22 lr rounds through walmart alone. Beating walmart into accepting a 5 cent per box increase would be near impossible, but if they did, it would amount to a huge chunk of profits. A nickel here and there on a box doesn't work in all cases, though.
Bottom line is that there is a huge picture, and frankly, what remington, federal, winchester and CCI say has next to no real impact on the market. spot prices over a month or even 6 months will have very little impact, IMO.
Energy costs, IMO, provide a bigger percentage of making ammunition than metals do. Restructuring pricing with premium, ultra premium, generic, and name brand rounds, as well as selling thousands of rounds of private label (not so much now) have allowed companies to tweak prices year after year, but there comes a time that across the board revenues are too low, and then, MSRP is adjusted in as many places as it can be, and then, invoice prices, contract prices, etc, are all adjusted as possible.
I'm nowhere near smart enough to even begin to comprehend the incredibly complex formulas and processes that federal would use, but, for example, they must sell a million boxes or so of their basic "lighting" brand .22 lr rounds through walmart alone. Beating walmart into accepting a 5 cent per box increase would be near impossible, but if they did, it would amount to a huge chunk of profits. A nickel here and there on a box doesn't work in all cases, though.
Bottom line is that there is a huge picture, and frankly, what remington, federal, winchester and CCI say has next to no real impact on the market. spot prices over a month or even 6 months will have very little impact, IMO.
I have read that ammo manufacturers can anticipate pretty accurately how much ammo they will sell in a given year. They purchase raw materials based on those projections, hedging as much as possible. It seems reasonable to me that the biggest part of ammo manufacturing has to be materials since it is mostly automated. New brass, primers, powder and the bullet have to make up the majority of the cost. Some of this is why when the ammo shortage was alive and well, that the shelves couldn't get caught up - the quota for the year had already pretty much been set.
We have been in a market time when raw materials, commodities have risen faster than other parts of the general market place. That will level off but after steady increases.
I also see that some remarked about everything going up. I can't argue that some things have but many things have actually gone done. Look at electronics, way less money and especially for what you get.
Also consider the taxes on sporting goods. Legislators see sporting goods as an easy target for taxes.
We have been in a market time when raw materials, commodities have risen faster than other parts of the general market place. That will level off but after steady increases.
I also see that some remarked about everything going up. I can't argue that some things have but many things have actually gone done. Look at electronics, way less money and especially for what you get.
Also consider the taxes on sporting goods. Legislators see sporting goods as an easy target for taxes.
With their $20 off coupon and the "join the cabelas club" $25 discount, the cost per round was only about 2.2 cents per round.I will tell when due to politics that ammo/firearms will dramatically increase in costs--If a SC Justice becomes ill and steps down or expires, BO will NO doubt appoint yet another liberal justice thereby placing the Second Amendment as we know into serious jeopardy.
Just MHO.
-Cheers
Huskerguy,
IMO the ammo shortage was due to the new administration. When BHO took office, spent pistol and rifle casings from the military were not allowed to be sold to companies to produce remanufactured ammo. These once fired casings were destroyed and sold as scrap. This act alone took millions of once fired casings out of the supply chain. Some companies that traditionally produced remanufactured ammo were scrambling to buy what new casings they could to sell factory new ammo. This action alone gave suppliers a reason for big price hikes. The U.S. military had a large ammo order to be filled. On top of that, numerous LE agencies had placed larger than normal ammo orders to be filled. This left very little production available for the general public. Then there was the panic buying of ammo and reloading components by people concerned BHO would heavily tax if not outlaw firearms and ammo.
IMO the ammo shortage was due to the new administration. When BHO took office, spent pistol and rifle casings from the military were not allowed to be sold to companies to produce remanufactured ammo. These once fired casings were destroyed and sold as scrap. This act alone took millions of once fired casings out of the supply chain. Some companies that traditionally produced remanufactured ammo were scrambling to buy what new casings they could to sell factory new ammo. This action alone gave suppliers a reason for big price hikes. The U.S. military had a large ammo order to be filled. On top of that, numerous LE agencies had placed larger than normal ammo orders to be filled. This left very little production available for the general public. Then there was the panic buying of ammo and reloading components by people concerned BHO would heavily tax if not outlaw firearms and ammo.
jason_iowa
New member
Good tip on cabellas I ordered a couple cases as well.
On a limited scale I've seen just the opposite. More New, never shot, or shot less than 50 rounds, typical S/D handguns for sale at less than market prices of 24 - 36 months ago. I believe the reason for this is twofold, the folks who expected the current president to try and make firearm ownership even harder than it is now have come to realized it has not happened and probably will not are starting to sell their impulse purchase firearms. The group of folks who were afraid of civil unrest if Mr. Obama was elected have discovered that there has not been open rebellion in the country and there probably will not open rebellion have started to sell their recently purchased firearms as well.
The supply of ammo has risen in the last two years, and I have not noticed any dramatic price increase, at least so much that it has affected my buying habits. Shooting always has been and always will be an expensive hobby, sad to say.
Anything is possible, but I don't think that even if BHO wins reelection (and that's a stretch but not impossible given this great nation's ever changing demographics) the Dems will definitely lose more congressional seats to the Republicans thereby ruling out any further gun control legislation. I still say the 'back-door' method they will use is to challenge the sanctity of the Second amendment itself via the nation's highest court if they can appoint another liberal justice thereby giving the Dems at least a 5-4 majority opinion.
Who would have thought that ammo costs would be a 'barometer' of current political trends?
-Cheers
Who would have thought that ammo costs would be a 'barometer' of current political trends?
-Cheers
chris in va
New member
Component prices haven't increased in a while. They're actually pretty steady. I call BS.
orionengnr
New member
But there are a variety of posts on it. Who knows?
Plus, oil is back up over $100/bbl today. The speculators are running the show yet again. Nothing surprises me any more.
Plus, oil is back up over $100/bbl today. The speculators are running the show yet again. Nothing surprises me any more.
insaneranger
New member
+1...probably mostly BS & an excuse to raise prices like everyone else. If materials go up .05 cents, the price goes up $5 on the product! Example: If oil prices go up $50/barrel...gas costs $1 more per gallon. If oil prices drop $50/barrel...gas costs .10 cents less per gallon. It's all BS.